Wild Encounters Mini Zoo

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Wild Encounters Mini Zoo A small zoo licensed animal facility just outside Newcastle West in County Limerick.

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PARTIES! PARTIES! PARTIES!Wild Encounters Mini Zoo is a great kid's party venue with plenty to see and do with our play ...
23/04/2025

PARTIES! PARTIES! PARTIES!

Wild Encounters Mini Zoo is a great kid's party venue with plenty to see and do with our play areas, foosball table, air hockey table, giant connect 4 and jenga in the cafe area, or test your tractor riding skills at 'Farmer Luke's Driving School' which has been very popular with the younger visitors since its installation a few weeks ago!

Along with that we have animal handling sessions with our small fluffy faves, PLUS the reptiles and bugs! Animal feeds and talks with our meerkats and parrots, and not forgetting our super popular ferret racing where you can join in the fun and cheer on your favourite ferret, or maybe even help one of the keepers in the race to be the best ferret trainer of the day!!!

With a dedicated time slot at our decorated party area for you to have your birthday meal with a choice of tasty chicken goujon and chips or delicious sausage and chips and a great variety of play areas and exotic and domestic animals we're sure the Mini Zoo will be the place to enjoy your next kid's birthday party, and the best bit, it's great value at ONLY €15 per child PLUS 2 adults free entry with the group!!!

Enquire with us for availability for your next party date!

Just a cute picture of a couple of our meerkat pups to brighten your day! 😍 They're growing fast and getting more curiou...
21/04/2025

Just a cute picture of a couple of our meerkat pups to brighten your day! 😍 They're growing fast and getting more curious of their surroundings! Nice crowd of visitors for the morning meerkat talk got a little treat with the appearancee of one joining the adults out at breakfast! 😁 Why not pop along for a visit soon to see if you can catch a glimpse too! 😊

20/04/2025

The Easter Bunny was on fire with his dance moves at this morning's kid's disco! Kids having a blast at the Mini Zoo this Easter! 😊

The weather didn't start off too great for the kick off of our Easter weekend but that didn't stop a great crowd of you ...
19/04/2025

The weather didn't start off too great for the kick off of our Easter weekend but that didn't stop a great crowd of you turning up to enjoy your day with us! A big thank you to Stumbles for entertaining our visitors (and staff) with some amazing and funny magic shows and of course another big thank you to the Easter Bunny for coming to the rescue and joining us today for some meet and greets when the weather meant some plans had to be changed! The Easter Bunny will be back again tomorrow along with our kid's disco at certain times in the cafe along with our popular Easter trail too! Hope to see you there! 😊

UPDATE FOR THOSE VISITING TODAY!Due to the wet weather the scheduled stilt walking performer has unfortunately had to ca...
19/04/2025

UPDATE FOR THOSE VISITING TODAY!

Due to the wet weather the scheduled stilt walking performer has unfortunately had to cancel so instead the Easter Bunny has ever so kindly taken time out of his super busy schedule to be around for some meet and greets during those time slots instead today! All other magic shows, talks and activities going ahead as normal for the day but please remember to dress for the weather (the magic shows and easter bunny will be inside the cafe) First magic show from 11am and all included in general admission entry!

Come and meet Tango the Macaw during 'Parrot Chatterings' today at 12pm as part of the daily talks you can watch here at...
16/04/2025

Come and meet Tango the Macaw during 'Parrot Chatterings' today at 12pm as part of the daily talks you can watch here at the Mini Zoo. See him show off some of his many talents and perhaps grab a cheeky little pic with him before enjoying the rest of your trip with us! 😊 He's a great character! 😊

We've had a special visitor in ahead of our Easter weekend working out the best spots for his Easter trail, and he could...
15/04/2025

We've had a special visitor in ahead of our Easter weekend working out the best spots for his Easter trail, and he couldn't resist having a go on some of our play areas and meeting some of our residents here at the Mini Zoo! If you're looking for somewhere to go this Easter weekend check out our eggs-tra Easter activities planned below and come see us at the Mini Zoo!

Saturday 19th:
Magic shows - 11am, 1.15pm, 3.15pm (please note limited seating in cafe area, based on a first come basis)
Stilt walking - 12pm, 2.15pm
Easter Trail with a creme egg treat for all kids completing trail (while stocks last)
Petting Times with our Small Furry Favourites (12.40-1pm) and Reptiles (3-3.20pm)
PLUS the Summer schedule of Keeper Talks/Activities throughout the day including the popular FERRET RACING is back!!! (1.15pm)

Sunday 20th:
Kid's Easter Disco 12-1pm, 3-4pm
Meet & Greet with the Easter Bunny (appearances randomly throughout day)
Easter Trail with a creme egg treat for all kids completing trail (while stocks last)
Petting Times with our Small Furry Favourites (12.40-1pm) and Reptiles 3-3.20pm) during day
PLUS the Summer schedule of Keeper Talks/Activities throughout the day

Looks like the donkey duo have been working on their album cover photo! Looking pretty slick girls! 😂We're open today (a...
13/04/2025

Looks like the donkey duo have been working on their album cover photo! Looking pretty slick girls! 😂

We're open today (and the rest of the school holidays) under our Summer schedule of 11am-5pm! Come on down to the Mini Zoo! It's looking to be a sunny day again! 😊

The school holidays have begun and the sun is shining whoop whoop! We've now moved to our Summer opening schedule of 11...
12/04/2025

The school holidays have begun and the sun is shining whoop whoop! We've now moved to our Summer opening schedule of 11am-5pm and are open every day of the holidays! Ferret racing is also back from today to go with our other exciting and fun keeper talks and activities! Don't forget to stop in at the Wild Hart Cafe for some delicious lunch while the kids make use of our play areas too with some fun new additions added to the area! :-)

The warmer weather has brought the little secret our meerkat mob has been keeping up to the surface! 3 weeks ago keepers...
11/04/2025

The warmer weather has brought the little secret our meerkat mob has been keeping up to the surface! 3 weeks ago keepers were delighted to hear the familiar chirping and squeaking noises from the nest box that meant Arya had given birth to a litter of pups! They've started to venture out more and more now their eyes have opened so keep a look out in the meerkat habitat when you visit us over the Easter Holidays and you may be treated to a little glimpse of them following the adults around and exploring! 😍 So cute!!! ❤️❤️❤️

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It's such glorious weather at the moment that it's even warm enough to get the tortoises out of the reptile house for a ...
07/04/2025

It's such glorious weather at the moment that it's even warm enough to get the tortoises out of the reptile house for a little while!

Tortoises (and other reptiles) need vit D from the sun to process calcium in their diet. Without it they can develop serious health problems! Inside the reptile house we replicate this with special lighting, but nothing truely beats the real thing so it's great to get them out and about when we can! Not sure the guineapigs who's pen they're sharing for the day agree too much though! 😂

It's a glorious day down at the Mini Zoo today! Why not come out for a visit. The sun is shining, the ice cream machine ...
05/04/2025

It's a glorious day down at the Mini Zoo today! Why not come out for a visit. The sun is shining, the ice cream machine is up and running! The animals are out loving the sunshine! What could be better! Don't forget to check out some of the keeper talks and activities and the on site cafe while you're here! 😊 Open from 11am - 4pm (last entry 3pm)

Easter Weekend at the Mini Zoo!We have some egg-citing extra activities planned here at the Mini Zoo alongside our regul...
03/04/2025

Easter Weekend at the Mini Zoo!

We have some egg-citing extra activities planned here at the Mini Zoo alongside our regular talks/activities that are sure to be a hit with the kids!

Saturday 19th:
Magic shows - 11am, 1.15pm, 3.15pm (please note limited seating in cafe area, based on a first come basis)
Stilt walking - 12pm, 2.15pm
Easter Trail with a creme egg treat for all kids completing trail (while stocks last)
Petting Times with our Small Furry Favourites (12.40-1pm) and Reptiles (3-3.20pm)
PLUS the Summer schedule of Keeper Talks/Activities throughout the day including the popular FERRET RACING is back!!! (1.15pm)

Sunday 20th:
Kid's Easter Disco 12-1pm, 3-4pm
Meet & Greet with the Easter Bunny (appearances randomly throughout day)
Easter Trail with a creme egg treat for all kids completing trail (while stocks last)
Petting Times with our Small Furry Favourites (12.40-1pm) and Reptiles 3-3.20pm) during day
PLUS the Summer schedule of Keeper Talks/Activities throughout tghe day including the popular FERRET RACING is back!!! (1.15pm)

All included as part of normal general admission. Mini Zoo open from 11am-5pm.

*No prebooking required but please note activities such as the magic show where there is limited seating will be on a first come basis and so it is recommended to try and catch an earlier show instead of arriving specifically for the last showing in case of disappointment.

*Creme egg treats for Easter trail are available while stocks last

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming back the Animal Care students from Cork College of FET - Douglas Street Campu...
01/04/2025

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming back the Animal Care students from Cork College of FET - Douglas Street Campus . These guys come back year on year to get up close and personal and learn about a wide variety of exotic animals as part of their course! Aswell as watching our meerkat mob getting fed (along with a little surprise being the first ones to get a glimpse of the newborn meerkat pups!), meeting owls, snakes, giant bugs and more during one of our popular animal workshops along with getting to wander round seeing the wide range of animals that live at the Mini Zoo we're pretty sure a great time was had by all whilst learning lots of valuable info to help them with the course and future careers!!! We were only too happy to see you back again and look forward to seeing you again next year!

Are you a college studying animal care or another animal related course, or a school looking for a fun and engaging trip out with the class? Take a look at the school section of our website to see our great value package and enquire to book a trip in with us! We can cater our workshops to all age groups and abilities!

Credit images: A. Bush

Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome mums out there!!! Remember, if you're looking for somewhere to bring them then th...
30/03/2025

Happy Mother's Day to all the awesome mums out there!!! Remember, if you're looking for somewhere to bring them then they get free entry to the Mini Zoo today! PLUS the sun is shining so its a lovely day out there today! Make sure to treat them to a tasty lunch in our on-site cafe too and catch one of our meerkat feeds and talks where our very own Mini Zoo meerkat mother, Arya, may give you a glimpse of a little surprise of her own! 😉

Open today 11am-4pm (last entry 3pm, last cafe orders 3.15pm)

One free entry ticket for mum or grandma per paid for child in attendance. What a great excuse to come visit us! 😀

Got plans with your mum and/or grandma this Sunday? Why not treat them to a Wild Encounters Mother's day with mums and ...
28/03/2025

Got plans with your mum and/or grandma this Sunday? Why not treat them to a Wild Encounters Mother's day with mums and grandmas going free! Don't forget to stop off in the cafe and treat them to a tasty lunch too!
One free entry ticket for mum or grandma per paid for child in attendance. What a great excuse to come visit us! 😀

One of our work experience students, Laura, made the mistake of telling us she didn't like Tequila, our tarantula, and h...
26/03/2025

One of our work experience students, Laura, made the mistake of telling us she didn't like Tequila, our tarantula, and had no intention of going near her let alone ever holding her! So obviously Keeper Ben had to make this a training moment and by the end of the day both her and Tequila were best of friends (almost) 😅

It's always a learning moment for our animal care students doing their work experience with us! 😊 We're already getting enquiries for work experience with us all the way in to 2026 so if you're currently studying an animal related course and fancy doing a work experience placement with us then check out our work experience section of our website and get in touch!

Address

Coolyroe

V42TD81

Opening Hours

Monday 11:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 11:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 11:00 - 17:00
Thursday 11:00 - 17:00
Friday 11:00 - 17:00
Saturday 11:00 - 17:00
Sunday 11:00 - 17:00

Telephone

+35361974951

Website

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Our Story

Welcome to Wild Encounters!

A small zoo licenced animal facility, based in Coolyroe, Co. Limerick just outside Newcastle West. We operate private on-site experiences and visit schools, nursing homes, parties and other events as part of our outreach programme.

Our programmes are designed to educate, entertain and stimulate people of all ages about the natural world through up close and personal experiences that are sure to make an impact and create memories!